Impossible
by Golden Topaz Eyes
Summary: Ophelia Claire runs from the streets of NYC to Washington to save her humanity. If you can still call it that. Rated T just to be safe, contains several OCs.
1. Freedom

Hi guys! Welcome to my newest story, Impossible =) For all of you curious, I did steal this title from a previous story of mine that has since been deleted because it was waaaaayyy too dark and dreary. This Impossible has no relation to the old Impossible, though. Enjoy!

* * *

Summer was my least favorite time of the year in New York.

When my maker had pulled me from the sewer on that warm, musky night in August three years ago, I felt whole. Besides the fact that my hair was mussed, my body was aching to move, and I wanted to ask more questions than my body could process, I felt perfect and harmonious. My maker smiled at me and called me perfect before whisking me away to a 24 hour chapel nearby, and we were married.

Summer in New York was a time when the humans enjoyed breaking open the fire hydrants to splash around in the heavy, humid air. It was a time of happiness and glory for all the children and teenagers alike who got to leave the hot confinements of school. It was a time for people to wear short sleeves and to bask in the warm, inviting sunlight. It was a time for love to blossom under full moons on sandy, sultry beaches.

Of course, my companion had left me as soon as another mortal human girl appealed to him. My death was announced with my disappearance, and our marriage was broken. For a while I was convinced I would never see him again, which left little old me to figure out how to live in my new, altered state of humanity. And it was because of him that I could never enjoy the luxuries of human life.

I might as well put it in the open. Yes, I am a vampire. As I might've mentioned earlier, I was created as a creature of the night in August about three years ago. My mother named me Ophelia Claire twenty-one years ago, and although I never pictured myself as a graceful, beautiful damsel in distress, I can wholeheartedly agree that that is what I am now.

After my companion left me, I snuck underground once more to live a quiet life with a quiet coven underneath New York City. It was pure coincidence that this place had been the coven of my companion, for my memory had been erased when my whole body became hard as rock and my mind became one of a killer.

What a life this was.

* * *

The day was sweltering. Even my crystal-cool skin felt warm to me. The human children were above my sewer grate, giggling and screaming as icy water splashed onto their flushed, sunburned skin. I peeked a pair of yellow-red eyes at them, and thankfully none of their brown, blue, or green eyes made their way over to my longing gaze. I felt like the little mermaid as I watched, hopelessly confined to this ocean of filth while they enjoyed the fresh sunshine of a normal summer day.

I played absentmindedly with the spirals of water from an open fire hydrant above me. That was really all I could do during the summer heat waves. I was never hot, but playing in puddles within the safety of my home made me feel more connected to the humans who were enjoying the splash much more than I was.

"Feely, get away from the grate."

I jumped, nearly yelping in surprise. For the long three years I had been a vampire, my senses were never as sharp as any other I'd met. I spun around to spot a single figure melt into the sunlight, her eyes a deep shade of red. Her skin glittered fabulously within the light and her ebony hair billowed softly around her shoulders, giving her the look of an angel.

"Cora, what are you doing, going and giving me a heart attack like that?" I gasped for air, and she rolled her eyes at me. She had no tolerance for my behavior, yet she still put up with me.

Coralina, or Cora as she preferred, was the equivalent of a princess within my small, secluded world underground. She was spoiled yet quiet, and boisterous yet angelic. Her father was a strong, handsome creature that made sure everything within our world was in order. The small, intimate coven took solace beneath the blacktop of the busy streets to protect themselves from the few humans above who could detect us. I was the newest member of the coven, and I was still not used to the society and how it ran so swiftly yet perfectly under the bustling streets above.

Cora smirked at me. "You know, looking at the children just makes my mouth pool with venom." She pushed me out of the way and climbed up the ladder to the top of the grate. Her head pushed against the steel, denting it slightly. I bit my lip, wanting to throw her down off the ladder and kill her then and there for interrupting me. Of course, I held back as she observed the children, shaking her head the whole time. "How can you enjoy watching this? They're running in circles in front of that red thing -"

"The hydrant, you mean?" I scaled the wall beside her, and I nodded once my eyes were glancing through the grate as well. "They're only human, Cora. They aren't icy and cool all the time."

She huffed and dropped down from the ladder with ease, oblivious to the fact that a fall like that could kill any human above. I watched her examine her red, claw-like fingernails, and she huffed a bit at the dirt and dust that coated her red, crew-neck shirt. Even though the coven despised anything human, we still all dressed in normal, seasonal clothing and we washed often, despite the fact that nobody would ever see us like this in the light of day. And at night, we could be wearing anything and they would never detect our presence.

"Father told me to pass on the message that we're going hunting tonight. And he expects you to attend as well." Cora glanced up at me, but I didn't notice. I was back to gazing longingly at the children as they giggled and laughed under the fire hydrant's spout. I could recall doing the very same thing as a child…

"Feely!" I winced at my unwanted nickname, and I instantly dropped down to the floor of the sewer. Cora had coined that name when my once-companion had shown me to the coven before I was changed into one of them. Until then, he had been very touchy-feely with me, so Ophelia was quickly shortened into the term that I despised almost as much as my confinement beneath the earth.

Cora sighed, stomping her foot lightly on the brick floor of the sewer. "Did you hear me, Feely? We're going hunting soon. Finish up this little…game of yours, then meet with the rest of the coven in the central pool. Plus, I have some new human items that I need to show you. Meet me at eight thirty?"

I nodded curtly, and Cora turned on her heel to run back through the tunnel that she had came from. Her speed was a trait that everyone in the coven possessed - except of course, me.

* * *

"Now, I want a nice, clean hunt. Feel free to break into homes, but do not make yourselves known. Taxi cabs are off limits, unless you want a chase. And remember, children are always off-limits."

Every eye seemed to be on Louis, Cora's father, as he delivered his normal, pre-hunting speech. I spotted my once-companion across from me, and he was toying with a young, feeble blonde who had eyes greener than the grass above. She reached up to peck him on the lips gently. As their kissing became more heated, the girl's moans echoed against the stone walls, making everyone else in the coven anxious within the confinement of the central pool.

The central pool was sort of our meeting place. Everyone in the coven lived their own lives within the tunnels during the daytime. At night and during times of emergency, the coven would meet within the central pool and lounge within the water and on top of the smooth cement sidewalk bordering the basin. On nights of the new moon, Cora's father would send me above the surface to find a source of water. I would have to fill the basin to the near top, for water was apparently a vampire's best friend. The water was necessary to keep us alive, Louis often said, for it helped us to become emotionally connected. I just did what I was told, and the coven accepted me.

Cora smirked at my expression of jealousy, and she poked me in the side with a red claw. She hissed out of the corner of her mouth, "Is somebody jealous of _that _green-eyed monster, Feely?"

I hissed under my breath_,_ drawing the attention of my once-companion. He grinned at me, and his blonde friend glared. I had seen my once-companion with many a girl, but none of them had ever been changed but me. And that was the way he liked it.

"I would like it if you could return to the central pool for a dive by midnight." Louis' voice was stern, but his eyes softened, giving him away. He spoke a bit more about the dangers of humanity discovering us, and my once-companion earned a glare from him. When Cora's mother, Felina, signaled the start of the hunt, each and every one of us sped through our tunnels and out of the grates into the world of humanity.

The city was fresh and alive with human blood. I breathed in the scent of humanity, and I watched as other members of my coven met around me. I spotted my once-companion with the giggling blonde riding atop his back, and I wanted to vomit. He spotted me too, and darted to my side, the blonde watching my every move.

"Hello, lovely Feely. How are you on this fine hunt tonight?" He slowed his pace to meet mine, and I glared at him. His companion smirked at me, expecting my jealousy to shine through my dark eyes. She knew of my involvement with my once-companion, and she thought I would ravage that man at any moment.

How wrong she was.

"Good evening. I see you have a guest tonight," I scowled, pausing to sniff at a male who was sitting on a street corner. He smelled wonderful, but he was much to at ease with his surroundings to become my dinner tonight.

The blonde flashed a toothy smile at me, probably waiting for me to kiss her hand or bow down to her superiority. When I made no movement to acknowledge her, her smile turned into scorn. "I'm Andrea," she said calmly, nuzzling her surgically-altered nose into the back of my once-companion's neck. "And he's all mine."

"Now, now, ladies," He said, grinning again. "No need to get feisty on me." I frowned with disgust and put all my energy into speeding away from my once-companion and his new human toy.

Nothing from outside the tunnels was particularly inviting tonight, so I darted my hand into the air at a passing pigeon. My meal was small yet filling, and I felt satisfied enough to return to the central pool once more.

I watched as a few of my coven members lured unsuspecting mortals into alleyways. Louis and Felina were teaming up on a small group of highly intoxicated adults, and I envied them. Alcohol in the blood was a luxury reserved for the highest of the coven members. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted Cora as she lightly kissed an attractive mortal man who was completely unaware that this would be the last kiss of his life.

What a life I lived.

* * *

The day above us was cloudy. Clean, crisp rainwater filtered through the narrow spaces in my grate, and I played with the glassy droplets as my mind wandered.

My once-companion had allowed the blonde female to stay overnight, and everyone in the coven was on edge. If he had wanted to kill her, he could've done it now. But if he wanted to change her, he very well could've done that, too. I pressed my wet palm into the back of my neck, the soothing water making me a little less angry at my whole situation.

That night at the central pool, the blonde was absent while her lover remained. His eyes were still dark orbs of maroon-red, signaling that he hadn't had a meal in a while. Cora inched up to him and retrieved the information I had been looking for. Yes, the female had been changed. No, she wasn't ready to be seen. I flinched as Cora relayed the information between us. She assured me that Louis would not allow another newcomer by my once-companion's hand to live with us, but I wasn't as sure.

"Hello, Ophelia."

I ripped my gaze away from the grate above me to see my once-companion push into the faint, soft sunlight. His eyes were still a deep red-black as his gaze bore into mine, and I bit my lip. He wasn't supposed to come near me, but he often broke that rule.

"Hello." My tongue refused to form his name, even though I knew it so well. He cocked an eyebrow and watched as I continued to play with the drops of rainwater from above.

He sighed and scaled the ladder beside me, dropping on his haunches at the top rung when he reached me. "I have no name today, huh?"

"No, you do not." My golden eyes met his, and he shook his head disapprovingly at the irises I wore from my hunting tactics, and with a sigh he jumped from the rung to the floor below. I would not harm a human unless I had to. He, on the other hand, would enjoy nearly sucking his girlfriends dry before changing them into one of us. I envied him for his boldness but hated his overly cocky way of going about relationships.

I watched him smirk at me from the floor below as he circled under me. He motioned for me to jump down, and I followed his instructions, landing safely on the floor next to him. His eyes were hungry on my skin, and I could instantly tell the reason he had journeyed to find me. "Ophelia," he said, grabbing my hand and kissing it lightly, "I want us to be friends."

I snatched my hand back with a snarl, startling him. His eyes darkened, and he realized that I was no longer an ally. With a huff to match Cora's, he turned on the ball of his foot and stormed away from my grate and into the vast tunnels of our home.

* * *

"Tonight we feast to welcome a new member into the coven."

Every eye was locked on Louis as he delivered his customary speech. The coven was silent and solemn, except for the owner one pair of eyes - the reddest ones in the room. My once-companion was sitting on the edge of the basin, dangling his feet into the water, while Andrea sat on his lap, purring and giggling. She had the customary pale skin and red eyes, yet she still wasn't as beautiful as many of us were. Something about her seemed off, and it made everyone in the central pool feel on edge.

Louis stopped speaking and stared sternly at my once-companion and Andrea, who turned around with the sudden silence. "I just want to be clear once more," he said, addressing Andrea more than anyone else. "Do not break into homes unless you need to. Do not expose us. And most importantly, children are 100% off limits. Understood?"

Andrea giggled with fresh excitement, and she bobbed her head so fervently that she resembled a bobble head. My once-companion grinned at her, and he helped her onto her feet for the hunt to begin.

Luck was not on my side that night. Many of the small city animals had taken shelter in their homes already. I found a few substantial creatures within the greenery of Central Park, and at once I felt more human and in-control than I had in days.

As I started aboveground to the central pool, I stopped in my tracks. My once-companion and Andrea were kissing within the shadows of an alleyway. I smelled fresh blood and was hit with the scents of the hunt almost instantly.

Cora's form was instantly beside mine, and she watched with a look of disgust. "They act as if they are the only two on the planet." She crinkled her nose before spinning on her heel to continue her search for a substantial human meal.

Andrea's sharpened senses detected my presence, and she looked up, gasping. "What are you doing here, Feely?"

I sneered back, but she was already back to kissing my once-companion. He noticed me too, yet they were oddly fine with letting me watch. I didn't care, for all my attention was focused on the remains of their dinner.

The carcass was too small to be a fully-grown adult. It reeked of sugar and soft drinks, both foodstuffs that I had enjoyed long ago. As Andrea and my once-companion puckered on, the realization of the body before me dawned over me.

The broken human before me was a child.

Everything after my realization seemed to happen in slow motion, even for an advanced, highly-alert soul like me.

My once-companion was swiftly picked up by Andrea, who jumped at the two buildings surrounding the alleyway and took off. The two soared over my head and onto the rooftop of a skyscraper, and I was too absorbed in the aromas of the child to notice. Almost instantly, two gruff hands gripped my arms, and I was pulled back and into the depths of the city sewers once more.

My life was over.

* * *

"So, why did you do it?"

I sighed, looking through the bars of my confinement once more. "How many times do I have to tell you, Cora, I didn't do anything wrong here."

"Of course not," she said, smirking. "Killing a poor, defenseless human child is not wrong at all. Did he taste good at all? Was it worth your execution?"

I huffed at her, averting my golden gaze. "I did not lay so much as a hand on that poor babe's head."

Cora rolled her eyes, and I sighed, knowing that all the factors of the situation were against me. Louis and Cora's older brother Malcolm had pulled me away from a dead child. My mouth still had traces of blood around the edges from my meal of pigeon and squirrel. The murderers of the baby were long gone by the time I was found. If I hadn't known any better, I would say that my once-companion and his lovely, scheming Andrea had framed me.

Louis and Malcolm, along with the rest of the members of the coven, had decided that my death was the only rational option we had to keep us from being detected. Adults were much easier prey than children. An adult most likely lived alone and did not have immediate family nearby that would miss their absence. A baby or child's disappearance would launch an immediate investigation to find their whereabouts. The home of the child that Andrea had killed was currently surrounded by yellow caution tape, and I could see it clearly from the window of my jail cell.

To tell you the truth, I was frightened. Even if our coven was small and protected, we were still powerful. Cora had to explain to me that her mother had a power that linked the vampires in the coven together mentally, and only she could sever or tie us together. Next to the Volturi, an invincible Italian coven, we were apparently the most powerful and formidable combined force in the continental US.

And now that force was apposing me.

Cora sat beside me on a bench, keeping my jail cell guarded as the vampires in the central pool drained the basin of all liquid. I could hear Louis' voice from behind the thin walls as he instructed a few of the males to find wood above ground during the darkness of the night. I would be burned tonight into a pile of ashes for a crime that I didn't commit.

"Are you ready, Ophelia?"

My once-companion appeared at once from the shadows taunting me. He slipped the rope length around my neck, and the rough texture burned against my throat. In several seconds, I would be burned. His smirk seemed to be permanently plastered onto his face. Cora and a few other female vampires sat nearby to see me off. My petite friend jumped up and put her hand on my once-companion's shoulder, and he sighed, handing the rope to her with ease.

As soon as we left the small confinements of the jail, Cora burst into action. "The train to Newark leaves in 20 minutes." She slipped the rope off of my neck and sprinted, her little hand gripping mine. "I've already packed your bag. You need to hurry before my father notices that you weren't led to your fire by Alexander." I flinched at the name of my once-companion, and Cora rolled her eyes as she thrust a small bag into my hand. "The plane to Washington leaves in 45 minutes. I don't know what you'll find out there, but there's certainly life for the taking. Plus, you'll be alive."

"Thank you," I said, bursting the bolts of my sewer grate out of their sockets. Cora grinned wickedly at me and she scaled the ladder quickly to watch me dash into the night towards my freedom.

* * *

This is the first vampire story I've told in a while. I want to make it much more lighthearted than any of my previous ones. I know it sounds like nothing right now, but it will be good soon!

Please review - I love constructive critism =)

~GTE


	2. Family

_Hey readers! I'm happy to say that honors english has improved my writing, if only a little. Look for more frequent updates!_

* * *

As the cab pulled away from the small motel, I couldn't help but feel a pang of loneliness.

In the span of just twelve hours I had fled the only home I could remember to escape with my life. I sighed, wrapping my arms against myself in the Seattle cold. Fat pellets of rain splatted against my hair, pressing my red ringlets against the crown of my head.

A young woman at the vacancy office showed me to my tiny room. She smiled, clearly oblivious to the awful smell that filled the confined space. I tried my best to be friendly, yet I just wanted to shake my head to rid my sinuses of the odor surrounding me. When she finally left, I sunk to the floor, grasping fistfuls of red ringlets between my fingers.

I couldn't live like this forever. Or live _here_ forever.

Outside of the room wasn't much better. The rain that plopped onto just about every uncovered surface made everything smell fresh and clean, yet an awful smell hid deeper below its glassy surface. It was pressed into the pavement, the trees, the leaves, even the earth itself. Nothing in New York smelled remotely this awful.

As I trotted quietly in the pattering rain with my coat pressed against me, I couldn't help but notice how my first and only flight on an airplane had brought me away from everything I had once loved to a new, awful life.

* * *

"So, Claire, you are only seventeen, correct?"

The woman sitting in front of me was stern and strict, with deep, cutting brown eyes. Her hair was slicked into a bun. Her brass name tag read Ashleigha P. Murphy, and she was apparently the most successful social worker in all of the Pacific Northwest.

I held my lips together in a tight expression. I had only posed as seventeen to keep a low profile. Of course, my once-forgotten human memories eventually told me that seventeen was still considered under-aged, and I couldn't live alone or without a guardian. The woman in the vacancy office who I had paid and trusted to keep my secret on the down low had eventually turned me in. My eviction seemed like a relief from the terrible odor of my home, yet I didn't see what would happen in my freedom afterwards until it was too late.

"Claire?"

My head snapped up, and my golden eyes met Ashleigha's. Her perfectly tweezed eyebrows raised, and she scribbled something onto her clipboard. As she looked up at me once more, I watched her rock-hard eyes melt into compassion. "Claire, dear, please. I'm trying to help you."

I nodded, taking in a gust of cold air. "Yes," I managed to choke out, biting my lip. "I'm seventeen years old. May I leave now?"

Ashleigha pursed her lips. "I'm afraid you cannot, dear." She stood, busying herself at her coffee maker. Her eyes questioned me for a moment, and I shook my head. Why would I want coffee at a time like this?

She returned to her seat across from me moments later, a steaming cup of joe in her hand. "You're aware that at the age of seventeen, you are too young to live on your own?" She took a sip, wincing as the liquid burned her tongue.

I closed my eyes. If I could cry, surely I would be by now. Not only was I gone from Cora and the things I cared for, I was now being forced to live with a new family in a new home. I sighed, waiting for the sadness to pass. It always seemed to find a way out, but now it hung over me like a thick cloud, refusing to move.

"Oh, Claire," I heard Ashleigha dart around her room, looking for something to help make me feel better. A few seconds later I heard the unmistakable sound of a tissue being pulled from its box. She thought I was crying.

I took the piece of paper from her gingerly, and I sighed as I pretended to dab my eyes. This seemed to be the right thing to do, as my social worker sat next to me on the couch, hugging my shoulders. "It'll be alright, Claire. I promise."

Ashleigha got up slowly, walking circles around her office. She stopped short, and eyes darted to the ceiling in thought. Her face broke into a grin, and she walked quietly to her desk, typing rapidly. "I almost forgot! Claire, are you up to living with a new family right away?"

I stared at her, a question in my golden-yellow gaze. "Sure. Why not." I smiled weakly, and she returned the grin. After a while she looked up and escorted me out to the waiting room, her hand pressed gingerly in the small of my back.

"I promise Claire, your new family will love you. For now though you're going to be staying with my family. But don't worry, it'll only be a day." She smiled and sat me down in a chair in the waiting room. I smiled and watched her as she walked to her office, an unmistakable bounce in her step revealing her happiness from the success of helping yet another innocent child. As soon as Ashleigha disappeared into her office, I sat back into the fluffiness of the chair and stared earnestly at the outside world through a glass window.

I didn't move for the entire afternoon.

* * *

As the twilight hours approached, Ashleigha came to collect me. I sat in the front seat beside her of her large BMW. The black leather seats were beautiful to stare at, yet the whole vehicle contained a hugely concentrated smell of…grossness. I couldn't identify the scent that plagued me so badly in this tiny area.

As soon as we pulled into the driveway I was face-to-face with a man with a solemn face. His eyes were a crinkly compassionate brown, and he had the makings of a five-o-clock shadow upon his jawline. Ashleigha's frown mirrored his, and she collapsed into his arms with a sob. I bit my lip awkwardly and got out of the SUV, and I ascended the stairs in the faint moonlight to meet my temporary family.

"ALICE?" The toddler's hands were strangled around my ankles nearly before I entered the large, victorian-style home. I peered down at his ash-blonde little head, and his face crumpled into a frown. "You're not Alice."

I smiled at him, gently prying his tiny fingers from my ankle. "No, I'm not. But my name's Claire. What's yours, little man?"

He sighed, getting up and walking away from me rather rudely. His little feet pattered towards the large archway to the kitchen. Right before he entered, though, he turned around, looking at me with a confused expression. "Well, are you coming or not?"

I took one step that easily covered the distance between us, yet the little boy didn't seem to be bothered or concerned with my unusually large stride. He walked with me into the kitchen, where two eager and peppy looking girls sat at the large oak table. Their happy expressions vanished when their realized that the teenager walking with their brother wasn't Alice. The older of the two girls continued reading a black novel while the younger ate a bowl of macaroni.

Jamie took a seat near the younger girl that looked very similar in age to him – they could've been twins. He sighed and smiled a little boy smile before poking a hand into her bowl. She squealed and grabbed it from him with a shriek. The older girl looked up from her book and sternly clicked her tongue before getting up from the table to walk over to me. "You must be another basket case, huh?"

I reeled back, my face visibly hurt. She keeled over laughing and dropped her book in the process. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. God, that never gets old." She gathered her book and stuck out her hand, smiling. "Adrianna. And you must be…"

"Claire." I smiled weakly. The last time I ate was over a week ago, and I was sure my eyes had become black by now. I was starving. However, the general odor of the house was unnerving, and it acted as a great self-defense.

"Walk with me." The girl was at least fifteen years old. Her brown hair was frizzed with the humidity of Oregon, but she seemed at ease and used to it. Her eyes were a deep brown, and she had a kind air to her that was similar to the younger children. The scent of sadness seemed to be ingrained into the floorboards, though, and I assumed it had to do with the loss of a sister – Alice.

Adrianna led me up a spiral staircase to a long hallway with seven oak doors, each distressed or personalized in their own way. At the end of the hallway was a plain door, and it was this room that Adrianna led me to. She pushed the door open with flourish, revealing a unisex space. "Ta da! This is your room," she said, walking across the hallway. "And this is the bathroom. Feel free to…well, you know." She smirked and walked down to a door painted with tiny red flowers and disappeared.

The room had light blue walls and a crown molding that was both masculine and feminine, depending on your eye. The comforter was a nondescript white. Most foster kids hated their new situation. I was actually looking forward to staying in the comfort of a home for once.

* * *

"Shh! My family is sleeping! Ugh, Embry you are such a creep."

My eyes snapped open from my fake slumber, and I sat upright in bed with curiosity. The scent of wet dog was nauseating around me, and I nearly gagged. It was so disgusting and moldy.

"Well, I'm so sorry we couldn't come tomorrow. You know, when everyone's gone." The masculine voice was gruff and sort of sexy, but the breath it brought was awful. I sighed, pushing back my comforter that smelled of sweat and urine. I was guessing that I wasn't the first one to stay in that tiny twin bed.

The voices giggled and I heard the hasty pushing of an open window. Footsteps toppled onto the floor in the room beside me, and my curiosity peaked. I pushed out of my room quietly, my red ringlets framing my face in the faint light radiating from the hallway nightlight. Although I was trying to be stealthy I failed miserably, as the heavy oak door creaked. The people in the room over froze.

"Did you hear something babe?"

"Chill, it's probably one of the kids. They don't miss me anyway. I mean Mikayla's aware of my nighttime visits…she's probably coming to say hi." Dainty footsteps walked closer to the door, and I launched myself into the cavity of the ceiling, holding myself up.

A petite blonde that had to be at least eighteen walked silently into the hallway, her eyebrows arched. She huffed then grimaced, clutching her nose. "Em, does it smell in here, or is it just me?"

I wanted to pull my fingers across my nose if I could. The girl was obviously the source of the unmistakeable odor. She looked around the hallway, searching for the source of the scent when it was obviously her.

She was joined momentarily by a tall, olive-skinned man that was well into his twenties. He too grasped his nose. "It smells like a vampire," he said, grimacing. The blonde girl gasped and shook her head in denial.

"You don't think…" She turned to Embry before shaking her head and returning to the bedroom with her love by her side.

That wasn't the last time I would see Alice Murphy.

* * *

The morning had arrived, and so had my new opportunity within the rainy state of Oregon.

Ashleigha packed the SUV with the few clothes and shoes she had bought for me to add to my one outfit of jeans and a bohemian-style top. We set of early, beating the majority of traffic. It wasn't until at least four in the evening that we pulled up to an art-deco style home surrounded entirely by trees and Spanish moss.

My social worker left me in the car to speak with a sandy-haired man that was rather attractive. He was joined by a woman with caramel-colored hair and a young, spunky teenager with red ringlets that matched mine perfectly. They were gossiping and laughing with gusto when Ashleigha motioned for me to come join them. I was introduced quickly and after a few paper signings, Ashleigha left, promising to call.

"Hello!" The teen smiled happily at me, her face completely taken over by a smile. "I'm Vanessa. But you can call me Nessie. Actually, I prefer Nessie." She giggled, her excitement coming off her in waves to add to her pleasantly sweet yet woodsy scent. Nessie took my hand and led me through the door of the artsy home, stopping in the kitchen. She smiled before standing on her tip toes to reach my ear, drawing a breath.

"We know you're not just a normal teen, Ophelia. Welcome to the family."

* * *

_Enjoy and have a happy holiday!_


	3. Questions and Teeth

_Merry Christmas! Hope you enjoy the newest update. I'm already working on ch. 4._

* * *

As soon as the words left Vanessa's lips I reeled back, slamming myself into the back wall of the room. "What?" I smiled sheepishly, biting my lip. "W-what are you talking about? I'm no different than any other girl at Forks High." I leaned against a nearby bookcase, but without carefully judging my own weight. It toppled and then crumbled under the strength I feigned not to have.

Vanessa giggled. "I'll let you in on another secret," she said, smiling. "My name's not really Vanessa. It's Renesmee. But I'm Vanessa to everyone else except my family. But I wasn't lying about the Nessie part. I prefer that little nickname."

I picked myself up from the shards of wood encasing me. A whole collection of Nancy Drew books were littered around the floor, along with a few cookbooks and a magazine. Renesmee chuckled again. "It's okay. Esme wasn't fond of that bookshelf anyway."

I stood up abruptly, dusting myself off. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"But I said nothing unusual." Nessie smiled sweetly and walked up to me, her brown eyes blazing into my black ones. She clucked her tongue. "My my, somebody's hungry."

"Yeah," I said, gulping nervously. "I could go for some Italian right about now."

Nessie keeled over laughing, wiping tears from her eyes. "Unless you mean a hot Italian gentleman, I have no clue what _you're_ talking about, dear Ophelia."

Before I could deny my want for any sort of blood in particular I was joined by a tall, swanky blonde with golden eyes. She had an air of self-pride to her, and she wore a deep pink cocktail dress and carried a white leather purse which she promptly threw onto the kitchen table. She kissed the redheaded girl on her crown before turning to me, observing. After a while of looking she came closer, picking at my hair. She observed my eyes and their shade, her indifferent expression turning downwards. I stood perfectly still as she finally nodded and ceased her examination.

"Her eyes are too large and too far apart. Her nose has a very miniscule but noticeable bump that disrupts the curve. The ringlets are too curly but we can work with that. And of course she's reasonably taller than Nessie." The blonde strutted to the living room and reclined on the cream leather couch while I pinched the bridge of my nose and felt my eyes, wondering why I was being compared to Nessie. Besides, my eyes weren't that far apart.

"Oh Rose, relax. She's perfect. It's better than having you dye that hair red, now isn't it?" A soft looking brunette joined our party of three, glancing at me briefly before taking a double-take. "Hello dear. I'm Isabella, but feel free to call me Bella. It's great to meet you!" She took me into a soft hug, and I could tell she was far mature beyond her appearance of merely nineteen.

"Sure, Bella, she looks perfect to you. But what if-"

"No human is going to be able to not pass them off for sisters. Relax." Bella joined Rose on a separate couch, and Nessie soon joined Bella, nestling into the crook of her arm like a child. I still stood awkwardly near the destroyed bookcase, biting my lip and taking my own time to observe. Obviously the redheaded girl – Nessie – was somehow related to both Rose and Bella. But how? And if all three were vampires –

"We'll explain eventually." The hushed conversation between Bella and Rose went abruptly silent as a tall, looming man entered the room, his face stone-cold and his eyes a smoldering gold. He glanced once at me and nodded before walking to sit next to Bella, and he kissed her kindly.

"Explain what?" I followed him, walking to the arm of the cream leather couch the blonde was lounging on. "I don't entirely know what you're referring to."

"Oh, but you do." He nodded again, staring straight out the window without facing me. "You know exactly what I'm referring to, Ophelia."

"I never said my name was Ophelia." I glanced at Nessie, her smile smug. "I'm Claire. Claire…" My mind was blank. I had a last name, I knew I did. But I couldn't remember it. Did I make a pseudo one for Ashleigha? I racked my thoughts from the last few hours but no last name made itself known.

The man faced me with a stern expression, shaking his head. "You're Ophelia Claire O'Neil. You were born on October nineteenth, nineteen eighty-nine. Your father is Michael James O'Neil and your mother is Clara Roberts-O'Neil, hence your middle name. And you only call yourself Claire because you don't want your memorable name to be tracked."

I stared at the man, my mouth agape. How could he possibly have known this? I shook my head and bit my lip again, folding my arms. I leaned my weight against the couch, yet it didn't crumble like the bookshelf had. The two women of the small family on the couch stared at me, giggling with my astonishment. The silence seemed to stretch for an eternity before the teen sat up, her eyes full of laughter.

"Daddy can read minds." Nessie giggled before jumping up from the couch, walking over to me. "And honestly, I don't think you look too much different from me. We could pass for sisters." She giggled again before playing with my hair, popping the ringlets.

I nodded and shrugged the child off of me. She was visibly hurt for only a millisecond before joining Rose on the couch. The blonde undid her bun while simultaneously picking up her heels from the couch's creamy leather, making room for Nessie. "I suppose she'll be fine. But she's right – Ophelia is too much of a name for Forks to handle. Claire is fine for the public, no?"

"But I'd feel horrible calling you anything less pretty than Ophelia." Bella picked herself up from the man's embrace and walked over to put an arm around me, smiling gently. "It's such a lovely name. Did your mother love Hamlet?"

I smiled kindly at the matronly woman, shaking my head. "I don't remember her. My change was hectic. I was bitten in one place and I woke up in another." Bella chuckled and smoothed my hair as Rose sneered and the nameless man devoted his attention elsewhere.

Bella's smile turned into a frown for a mere moment at my less-than-lukewarm reception, but she shrugged and flashed me a full smile of pearly-whites. "Would you like to see your room, Ophelia?"

* * *

As I sat in my new bedroom that overlooked the forest, Nessie interrupted, a grin gracing her face. "Mommy wanted me to tell you that we're going hunting tonight."

I barely had the time to shout after Nessie before she disappeared from my doorway: "I don't have a crossbow or any sort of weaponry. You'll have to go without me."

"My family says not to take no for an answer!" Nessie trotted into the room again, smiling at the expansive set of CDs and records decorating the walls. "Besides, you and I both know that you need some food. And now."

Fifteen minutes later I was standing in the muddy grass of a small clearing. Around me, my new family stood in silence, their keen ears pinpointing nearby heartbeats to track. I was having trouble finding something to eat within the forest. Everything was breathing. Life and earsplitting noise was everywhere, whether it was the rain or the miniscule sounds of the trees soaking up the rain, or the nearby babbling brook. Everything was so…loud.

"You okay, Feely?" Nessie's sweet voice made my eyes pop open, and she looked at me quizzically. "You set to go?"

The words spilled from my mouth before I could control them – "Are there any rules in regards to the hunt? You know, anything I should be worried about here?"

Rose looked over at me, snarling. "Why would we have rules? We're all civilized _vegetarian_ vampires. I'm sure you know what to expect. Oh wait, I forgot. Bloodsucking city girl."

Bella snarled at Rose, and the savage noise from such a kind, gentle woman made nearly everyone flinch with surprise. She turned her attention to me, smiling kindly. "Of course not, dear. Just no humans. But we can tell by that faint shade of gold in your iris that you already practice that lifestyle." Bella turned to Rose, an eyebrow cocked.

I nodded curtly, and almost instantly I was left behind in the dust. Nessie took off at a lightning speed to envy Usain Bolt. Rose and a burly, beefy man linked arms and jumped over the river. Bella and her bronze-haired companion jumped over the river as well, yet further downstream, clearly already set on a prey. My new "father" and my new "mother" ran off in completely separate directions. I wondered if they were only a couple for show. Lastly, an unidentified couple who had been sitting gracefully in the trees leaped off through the canopy, and I was only able to glimpse a splash of black hair before they vanished from sight.

I dug the heel of my oxford shoe into the mud, focusing on a heartbeat yet coming up short. After a while, the nervous pitter-patter of a squirrel's heart piqued my interest, and I shed the worn, leather shoes before taking off at a slow jog towards the river. The water flowed beautifully, cutting a clear path through the forest. Almost instantly my attention waivered with the sight of the gorgeous scenery, and I abandoned my prey and started following the water.

As I approached the surface of the cool brook, a twig snapped behind me. I slowly whipped my head around, and I was met with the gleaming teeth of a mountain cat, her purr filling the clearing with a pleasant hum. She approached slowly, her tongue darting out to lick her lips, oblivious to my species. She thought I was another human. Maybe it was because I didn't smell the same as her native vampires, but only the better for me.

As she lunged for me I exposed my teeth in a snarl, and she was taken aback, her surprised evident on her face. She took off at a run, and I followed, intent on gaining a new meal. I had never eaten any animal but squirrels and pigeons. I was actually looking forward to a new meal.

We nervously darted through the thick tree trunks, rain and wind battering my ringlets and her newly matted fur. My eyes were locked upon a pulse point. Venom pooled in my mouth as mud caked in between my toes, my grip on the earth strong. The cat ahead of me was fast, but not fast enough.

"Stop! No, Ophelia! You can't go there!"

I heard Bella's voice only faintly. My ears were ringing with the heartbeat of the mountain lion. A few of my new family members ran after me, their voices loud and powerful. At one point, I even felt my adrenaline drop and I felt like sitting, but that weird mood burst died quickly, and I was back to focusing on the cat and new meal in front of me.

The cat suddenly vanished, leaving me alone in a distant clearing in a new wood. The Spanish moss was not thick or draping over everything in sight here. The once clear, sweet scent of pine was gone, replaced instead by one of mold and mildew. I could spot the sun through the canopy, and I held my hand out, mesmerized by the glittering. It really was something, wasn't it? Being a vampire at that time and place.

I saw the dog before it saw me. No twig was cracked, no huff or heartbeat sounding. I turned my head at the right time to spot the creature. His eyes were wild and savage and saliva dripped from his massive, pointed teeth. The huge lumbering animal flared its nostrils, and its warm breath puffed out in front of its nose. The silver fur around his face and eyes grew spiked and angry as the wolf spotted me, and he lunged.

The last thing I remember was the knash of giant teeth. My entire body splintered.

* * *

_Please subscribe and review as a Chrismas present for me...?_


	4. My Death

_I was super happy to recieve a few story subscriptions! Thank you dear readers, and enjoyyyy._

* * *

I felt like I was in the splintered state for an eternity. My vision was impaired and warped. How did I get this way? My head had a crack from my hairline to the spot between my eyebrows, and I felt like my head had been gruesomely split. Was it the mountain cat I had chased? No, no cat has teeth that can do _that _to _me._

Voices danced around me in anger, and they bounced around the tree trunks and the moisture in the air. The clean scent of rain washed out and mingled with the scent of vampire and the molded scent of this part of the forest. For a few minutes I felt the ashen scent of fire close off, but that scent was soon overpowered by the scent of vampires once more.

Suddenly the pieces I had lost found their way back to me. The crack began healing almost as if somebody had shoved mortar into it. My crystal-clear vision returned to see the ghastly sight of more wolves. I sat up slowly, silencing the argument. Bella and her companion along with my fake "parents" stood around me, their eyes intent on the other side of the clearing. A dozen or so new wolves had joined the procession, but what was most surprising was Nessie, who sat on the back of a huge red wolf right behind Bella and Rose.

"Look who finally decided to wake up." I glanced at Rose, who was quickly silenced by a snarl that seemed to have come from Bella. I blinked a few times at the wolves, hoping they were a figment of the battering I had just received, yet they didn't vanish. Their snarls were obviously directed at me, but I couldn't see why. I did nothing wrong – I was merely following a prey.

"Nevertheless, we should've known better." The bronze-haired man stood near me and barely breathed his words, oblivious to my annoyance. If he kept reading my mind when I was unaware, I would kill him. He whipped around, looking at me with a stern expression. "You couldn't kill me if you tried. We're only trying to defend you. Of course you did nothing wrong, but the dogs think that you did. So play it cool."

I nodded stiffly as my fake father stood peacefully in front of a snarling wolf. Saliva slipped from his mouth. He turned around swiftly and stared at the man before calling his name – "Edward, come translate, if you will."

Edward sighed before walking to the blonde man, and his eyes seemed to glass over as he read the mind of the massive black wolf. "They want to know why she was not notified of the renewed treaty. The one that deals with our lines and territories and such."

My fake father nodded, staring plainly at the snarling wolf. "She wasn't notified because we simply forgot to arrange. Well, rather, it was a misunderstanding. I assumed Bella or Edward would notify her. I haven't been home for very long. I apologize, Sam, and you should not punish her."

The wolf huffed a breath of air from its nostrils before vanishing into a line of trees, yet its pack did not follow him. A man entered the clearing a few minutes later, his eyes and hair color identical to the big black wolf's that had vanished just seconds ago. Obviously, he had shifted from a wolf form to a human form. Naturally I was taken aback, and I cocked an eyebrow before taking one step closer towards Edward and my fake father.

The action happened in mere seconds. My foot barely made contact with the spongy forest floor as the wolves gnashed their teeth, and the wolf that had broken me so badly lunged. At the same time, Bella and the red wolf grabbed firmly onto my shoulders and pulled me back. Bella grabbed her daughter off the wolf's back as he leaped towards the creature that had left a noticeable scar above my forehead. They sparred for a few minutes and gnashed their teeth and barked with furious intensity. It was only then that I was able to breathe.

Their huge size clearly led to a problem. It seemed that their proportionate claws and teeth were long enough to cut off limbs, yet nobody showed any concern for their human welfare. If they lost a limb now, they would become paraplegics. I bit my lip and turned to Bella, who seemed to have taken over the primary role as my mother. "Are we going to just let them fight like that?"

Bella patted my shoulder and rolled her eyes with a huff. "It's impossible to stop them. None of us want to be bitten, and none of the wolves can take a bite from us without being fatally poisoned. So we just let them settle on their own time. They've gone at it for hours, but this seems like a minor skirmish…Jake wouldn't kill Paul. I can't say Paul won't kill Jacob, but Jake can fend for himself just fine. I think they'll be okay this time." She paused, searching around the clearing. Her eyes eventually settled on the pouf of red ringlets that mirrored my own. She sighed, her face laced with concern. "Ness? You alright?"

I watched patiently while Bella ran to her daughter, who was standing on the outskirts of the clearing, her head turned away from the fight and her fingers shoved roughly into her ears. Something told me that she had some sort of attachment to the russet-colored creature who now had a huge, bleeding gash near his breastbone. I shuddered.

Finally, the two stopped their skirmish. The russet wolf, Jacob, closed his eyes and sighed, his warm, foul-smelling breath filling the clearing. His dark eyes darted to the edge of the clearing, and he trotted quickly to the bushes to scoop up Ness, her eyes lighting up immediately.

"Now that you two are finished," said the clear leader, his human form quickly growing angry. "Can we get back to the problem at hand? Carlisle, we made it perfectly clear. After Blondie-" He paused, pointing straight at Rose, whose mouth quickly turned sour, "- killed Brady, we made it perfectly clear. If one bloodsucker set foot on our land, we had to punish your family. And because she seems to be the newest member, and clearly the one that the majority of you dislike, we have to kill her. It's only fair."

"Sam, be reasonable." Bella lunged forward, covering the clearing in merely two paces. "She's new. She wasn't notified. I take full blame for this, honestly. But please, don't kill her. Kill me, if you must."

Edward's eyes darted to Bella's and his expression grew stern. Nessie, who had been relaxing calmly on the back of the russet wolf, shook her head, tears pooling in her chocolate brown eyes. "Don't be silly, mom. You…you can't. Just…I don't know. Don't-" Jacob thrust his head upwards just in time, allowing for her to collapse onto his massive cranium from the stress.

"Why would we kill you?" Sam chuckled, walking around my new mother. His face was stern as he approached me, touching the mark left on my forehead by the massive, grey-black wolf standing behind him. "Paul? You did well. Did you want to…?"

The wolf nervously pawed the ground, licking his lips. My eyes met his, and he pulled his lips back into a snarl. Sam grasped my forearm, pulling me towards the pack. Bella snarled. Edward pulled Bella close to him and whispered something into her ear, making her exhale in a way that seemed like a vampire version of crying. Nobody else, however, made any motion to save me. I had found a nice home with a nice family and I was already getting killed. Why is it that death seemed to follow me?

Suddenly, the bushes rustled quietly, making Sam pause. Jacob picked his head up, alert, and Nessie also turned to look at who had arrived. A lightly colored grey she-wolf marched into the clearing, her eyes meeting the Jacob's dark ones at once. She trotted eagerly to his side where she collapsed onto her haunches, quietly asserting her authority. Secondly, a pair of wolves – a she-wolf with pure white fur and curiously blue eyes and her partner, a dark grey wolf with black dappling across his coat trotted to meet Jacob. Nessie's palm darted out to stroke the head of the docile white she-wolf, and she reached up, licking his hand. An eerie moment of silence followed, as if Sam was waiting for someone. The russet wolf transferred Nessie to her mother's arms before trotting off into the forest.

"It seems Jacob has a detour to take," Sam mumbled, glancing at me fleetingly. "Well, that doesn't mean we can't continue." He shook his head, presuming to rid his sinuses of my scent, similarly to the way I wanted to rid my sinuses of his existence. I hadn't even known him for an hour and he already seemed prepared to kill me.

A young man wearing no shoes or a shirt ran into the clearing, his eyes focused on Sam. "You can't kill her yet, Sam. Actually you shouldn't kill her at all. You see-"

"Enough, Jacob." Sam released me, throwing me to the forest floor with gusto. Bella immediately rushed to me, helping me up and dusting off my shirt. "Does Seth really want to see her die all that badly?"

Jacob closed his eyes, biting his lips in anger. "He would like to view it, yes."

"Because of Bra-"

"Yes, because of Brady." Jacob sighed and put up his hand to silence a low woof that had sprung up from the white she-wolf behind him. They seemed to be a part of his pack, while the extensive amount of wolves backing up Sam seemed to be his. "You know how close they were."

"Very well," Sam said, glancing at Bella, who still had a tight grip on my shoulder. "We'll give him a minute."

The seconds ticked by in silence. Bella and Edward continued to share meaningful glances, as if communicating without words. Renesmee stood near Jacob, who was extremely tense at the moment, his fists clutched to his sides and his eyes glued to the place Seth would supposedly enter. The wolves behind Jacob waited patiently, while the wolf that was looking forward to tear out my brainstem was salivating and licking his lips with a furious passion. Jacob looked at Sam, who seemed to be counting the seconds in his head, and he scowled.

"Fifty-eight, fifty-nine. Sixty!" Sam's voice made nearly every vampire in the clearing cringe, and Jacob sighed, shooting me a glance of apology. Sam's finger encircled my arm once more as he led me to Paul, who was jumping up and down like a dog who was about to get a treat. I clutched my eyes shut.

Just as Paul was about to crack my head open like a pistachio, I heard a heart retching howl. A rush of emotion poured towards me, catching me by surprise, and I pulled my eyes open just in time to see a boy that was similarly in size and stature to Jacob rush towards me. His eyes were dark yet soft, and his hair a dark shade of brown, nearly black. Paul was pushed out of the way just in time for a sandy wolf to challenge him, and I was confused for a millisecond before I realized this wolf was the boy who had ran at me so passionately.

As the boy and Paul snarled at each other, their hackles up and bristled, Edward clutched his head in his hand, staring straight at the sky. He shook his head and faintly sighed, "Oh Seth, what have you done?"

* * *

_Although I LOVE my subscriptions, a review would make me very happy. Just sayin'. Thanks for reading!_


	5. Dinner with Wolves

_I'm on a roll! I love the story favs and subscriptions - gracias, fans!_

* * *

It had only taken 30 minutes for the wolves of La Push to decide they utterly despised me.

After the sandy wolf had stepped in and saved me from being brutally decapitated, the wolves belonging to Sam Uley turned on their heels with rolling eyes and trotted off, their leader phasing behind them. The tiny pack belonging to Jacob quickly phased into human form and stuck around, talking in hushed tones with Bella and Edward while Nessie and Carlisle quietly chimed in.

I was so enticed with interpreting the whispers that I didn't notice the boy that had approached me. He tapped me lightly on the shoulder, making me jump. He jumped with my shock and suddenly gasped, laughing nervously. "Hello," he said, fidgeting awkwardly on the boulder he was sitting on directly next to mine. "I'm Seth." He gave another nervous laugh before staring at me, his eyes eager and bright as he waited for a response.

I turned away from the conversation to say fleetingly, "I'm Ophelia. It's a pleasure to meet you." I didn't turn around immediately, for something about Seth had caught my eye. Something about the boy made me want to ruffle his hair – he had an irresistible childish air to him. His face suddenly lit up with happiness, and I noticed that he was having a hard time looking away from me. How peculiar.

It took me a moment to recall that teenage boys sometimes put their raging hormones towards cute little kid-crushes. I chuckled under my breath before turning back to continue deciphering the conversation, yet I hated what I saw even more than the fact that I wasn't included in it. Jacob's face was laced with displeasure. He apparently wasn't too keen about opposing the pack that wanted to kill me, and he was clearly very upset with Seth. Bella rolled her eyes, clearly in disagreement with Jacob. Edward glanced at me once and was about to say something when Seth turned, sticking his cute and not-so-little face directly in front of mine.

His eyes met mine and the nervous, jittery boy-crush act was back. "I like your, um…hair, Ophelia. And your name, it's very lovely…" He smiled, and suddenly the scent he was giving off seemed nervous beyond belief. His face glowed, as he must've been pleased with himself for having the nerve to approach me. I smiled back, finding myself strangely happy to see Seth pleased. He gave me the same eager look that he had before, as if he was expecting a cute comment in return.

My mouth turned up into a soft, barely-there smile. Seth's dark brown eyes crinkled up with a smile of his own. I quickly formulated a polite response, and I was about to speak my mind when Nessie hollered at me from across the clearing, and I jumped up from my mossy bolder to meet her.

She rolled out a slender finger and motioned for me to come closer. Ness' eyes darted back to Seth, who was clearly happy with watching the sunbeams dance off our glittering skin. Let me rephrase that – he was overly excited to be in the same state as the glitters that rebounded off of my skin. Nessie's own alabaster skin was clearly shaded under a tree, and the little sunlight that touched her only created a muted, slightly shimmering glow. She sighed and glanced at the sky, avoiding my curious gaze. Her eyes darted nervously to Seth once more before she drew a deep breath.

"Ophelia, you need to listen to me closely. It is very – very – important that you do not upset Seth. He - well – hmm…" She paused, making sure I had her attention, "he kinda adores you."

Confusion shot through my body like ice water. "Adores me?" I could understand a cute little kid-crush, but going from a crush to adoration in mere minutes seemed nearly impossible. "I don't understand. I've only said maybe a total of three, maybe four words to him. How can he-"

Nessie cut me off with silence, her ringlets steadily bobbing back and forth as she shook her head. She stood on her tip toes and grasped my shoulders. "Don't ask for an explanation. I honestly cannot offer you one. But rejecting the kid would be like killing him. Do you understand?"

I wasn't sure if I really liked the grown-up, mature Nessie as much as I had grown fond of the hyper and energetic Nessie. Nevertheless, I nodded. I was clearly supposed to lead Seth on, even if I had no intention of dating the poor kid. Seemed like a very unfair plan, but opposing Nessie seemed like something I didn't want to do – half of the wolves hated me, and I didn't need to add a vampire – human – whatever Nessie was to that list too.

Ten minutes later, he was reaching for my hand as I walked back with him to the Cullen house. The others had sprinted back like I wanted to so badly, as my legs were aching for another run. Nessie and Seth had both bullied me into remaining behind so I could walk – tediously and ridiculously slowly, might I add – back to the house instead. Nessie then shot me a look that said "Don't you dare hurt this child" and I had to comply, even though leading on poor Seth seemed like the last thing I wanted to do. But hand holding after we had known each other seemed a little much, and I had to hope Nessie would agree.

The pain that washed over Seth's face was horrible, even though it lasted for a second at most. His brown eyes grew lackluster, and everything about him grew limp, even his rustled kid-hair. My emotions suddenly and inexplicitly reflected his – it somehow made me hate myself me to hurt the poor kid, so I let my hand hang at my side for him to retrieve it, yet he didn't. He ran ahead of me and walked backwards, a new smile gracing his newly happy face.

"So, Ophelia," he flashed me a cute, confident smile of pearly-white teeth, "how old are you, exactly? Because I mean you look like you're-"

"I'm technically twenty-one. But I appear eighteen. It's not so big of an overlap. How about you?"

Chalk it up to my general vampire superiority, but I soon realized that although I appeared Seth as a child, he simply wasn't. His frame loomed above mine – I hadn't clearly noticed his height when we were both sitting on similarly-sized boulders in the mossy clearing. He was shirtless, revealing a set of six-pack abs. Yet something about his face was still childish, whether it was his expressions or maybe the ruffled hair. He noticed my gaze and slicked it back (even though it popped up again like a spring). "I'm –well, you're going to laugh – I'm only, well, sixteen."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why would I laugh at your age? Being sixteen isn't a bad thing."

His face glowed again, and he reached forward to grasp my hand. "So you understand? You don't care about the age difference? I mean, five years really isn't really all that much, right?" Seth's eyes were full of happiness, his hair standing on all sorts of angles as he grinned brilliantly at me.

I didn't pull my hand back this time – for some reason, his warm skin actually felt pleasant encircling my own. I sighed and bit my lip, gazing intently at him, "I think we can be excellent friends. And no, five years is not too much. I have friends back in New York who are hundreds of years older than I am."

His confidence faltered for a moment, taking the glow with it. "Oh." Seth nodded, his smile quickly returning. "Being friends is….is always good. Great, actually."

We were approaching the huge river once more. The sweet smell of vampire washed over me, and I grinned brilliantly, bringing my face up to the warm sunlight. Seth watched on, his face full of fascination. His breath hitched as I turned to look at him, and he blushed awkwardly, quietly saying, "You really are a pretty girl, Ophelia."

I turned out of the sun, the glittering ceasing immediately. I chuckled warmly, "Thank you Seth. You are a very sweet boy."

Suddenly Seth was leaning towards me, his breath blowing its bearable, not awful wolf smell into my sinuses. His deep brown eyes locked onto mine. His face flushed, and he caressed my face lovingly, staring intently at the glitters that a flyaway sunbeam had created. "You're so lovely," Seth gasped, and I knitted my eyebrows in confusion as he pulled me close to him, pressing his lips firmly to my own.

The kiss lasted for maybe thirty seconds. Seth's eyes were initially closed, and he assumed mine to be, but he opened them to find me gazing with a confused expression directed at him. I broke the kiss quickly, and his smile fell into a look of disappointment. He shook his head and muttered, "Why me?" before turning on his heel to phase. Seth's warm sandy fur quickly melted with the colors of the forest, and I was suddenly alone in the sun's diminishing light.

* * *

That night, my fake mother –who I learned was named Esme – made a nice feast for Jacob and his tiny pack. The delicious scents of roast beef and mashed potatoes wafted up to my bedroom, along with the sweet aroma of the beginning of an apple pie. The scrumptious scents led the little humanity I had left down the many staircases in the Cullen household to the doorway of the kitchen, where Esme flitted around, her caramel colored hair tied hastily into a bun. Flour was dotted in her hair and caked on her forehead as she attempted to shape the pie crust exactly like it was pictured in the cookbook propped up against the countertop. She looked up as I approached and smiled sweetly at me before saying. "Hello Ophelia. It's about time I get the pleasure of meeting you!"

I smiled back earnestly at her, and she waved me closer into the kitchen. Esme wrapped her long, alabaster arms around my thin form as soon as I came close enough to her. "I always love it when new people join the family," she said, pulling away to add something to a pot simmering on the stove. "Can you help me set the table, dear? The goblets are in the china cabinet, and there's water for the humans and a bit of blood in the fridge for everyone else. Napkins are in a drawer in the cabinet next to the silverware." I nodded, and she broke out into a grin of thanks.

As I was setting the table and pouring drinks, a tall figure with a tuft of black hair that sprung in all sorts of angles appeared in the doorway. He carefully took one glass full of blood and switched it with a glass of water and a plate setting, his eyes never leaving mine. Before I could say anything he held up his hands in surrender. "I wanted to apologize," Seth said, "What I did before – uh, kissing you – was uncalled for." He sighed, shoving his hands casually into his cutoff jean pockets. At least this time he had remembered a shirt.

"It's alright," I said, setting a napkin next to a place setting for a human. "I have a confession to make. Nessie told me I should be leading you on. Is that-?"

"She said that?" He picked up an empty crystalline goblet, playing with it in his massive, paw-like hands. He scrunched up his nose as he contemplated this, finally sighing. "I understand if you don't like me like that. And I don't want you to pretend – just give me genuine feelings. Alright? Just ignore that little redheaded freak and be yourself."

I chuckled, walking around the table to hug him in a friendly manner. He smiled at this, but the happiness didn't quite reach his eyes. Clearly something was hurting him, but I couldn't figure out what. Esme then called everyone to dinner, and the entire household – including a few family members I hadn't met – filed into the dining hall one by one, sitting at their respective place settings (blood and no plate or silverware for the vampires, and goblets of water and plates heaped with food for the wolves). Nessie took the seat that Seth had obviously meant for me, and Jacob sat beside her. I couldn't be more grateful for her misunderstanding; Seth simply sat across from me.

Halfway through the awkwardly silent dinner a blonde girl with shockingly blue eyes stood, her water glass clutched tightly in her tiny hand. She smiled warmly at Seth and then glanced kindly at me before making sure everyone's attention was on her. "Well, most of you, after knowing me for several years, have learned to hate my mother – I mean, sending social workers everywhere to find me is just awful, right?" Everyone laughed a bit, and I was clearly out of the loop. "However, we have to thank her today. If it wasn't for her, Seth here wouldn't have found his soul mate."

Seth's eyes across the table grew wide, and he kept glaring at the blonde - who I later learned was Embry's imprint - who refused to notice him. Renesmee quickly grew uncomfortable. A few of my unnamed family members glanced at me uneasily, and I raised an eyebrow at the blonde, who turned happily to face me. She raised her glass above her head, expecting the family to follow. She smiled kindly and said, "To Ophelia, Seth's imprint. I hope you two have many happy years together."

My glass of blood shattered simultaneously with Seth's water goblet.

* * *

_Keep on subscribing...I would love a review too! The blonde is featured in my older and so-so story, Imprintee. Thanks, GTE._


	6. Newspaper

I really do apologize for the lack in updates. I just lost track of time and kind of forgot about this! So sorry.

* * *

The blue eyes of the blonde girl flickered with uncertainty. She opened her mouth and knit her eyebrows together, glancing at me. "Wait," she said, a confused grin splashed on her face. "You mean-"

Seth stood up, glowering at the girl. "Why did you have to ruin this, Addie?" He stepped over glass shards to exit the house, slamming the door on his way out. The blonde's mouth was still agape like an idiot, and she laughed nervously before sitting promptly and sipping quietly from her water glass. Nessie's eyes flickered over mine, and she nervously sipped from her goblet as I sopped up the remains of my drink with a paper napkin. The tension was thicker than molasses.

"Hold on a second." A very tan girl with a hard face half-stood from her seat, leaning forward over the table towards me. Her mouth twisted into an odd, angry smile. "Do you mean to say that you – you lucky, lucky girl – have been imprinted on by my brother yet you refuse to accept it?"

I reeled back, crumbling the scarlet sheet of napkin full of glass shards into dust. "Imprinted?" My eyebrows knitted together. "What on earth are you talking about?"

She stood up, leaning even further across the table to stare at me. "Imprinted. You know, when a wolf of La Push chooses his forever mate to further carry on the line? You can't tell me you don't feel any feelings towards my brother…?"

My mouth opened quickly to respond, but I shut it again. Feelings towards Seth? I couldn't say that he had a definite place in my heart – however, if I was supposed to love him it would make sense why I felt somewhat affectionate towards him, and why the kiss we shared didn't seem to be awful – in fact, now that she mentioned it, I felt guilty that I had broken it off. Seth's sister smirked at me once more, impatiently waiting for me to respond. She shook her head, placing her fork down next to her plate. "Maybe we all would've been better off if Paul had killed you," she murmured, but not quietly enough for me to miss it.

Bella and Esme simultaneously gasped, and Bella called frantically for me to return to dinner as I stood up, a frown etched on my face. My feet took me to the door where Seth had disappeared minutes ago, but my brain kicked in, and I turned on my heel to disappear upstairs into my room, where I closed the door behind me.

The light and airy room felt depressing in the darkness, and I scrambled around to find the light switch. It was located right above an ancient-looking record player, and the light that flooded the room showed how vulnerable I really was – the various windows framed a clear view of me from nearly all angles. I shuddered, closing the thick, navy curtains at once before sighing deeply. Is that really how everyone downstairs felt about me? Did they all think it was a better option for me to die instead of going through the trouble of keeping me alive? I plopped down onto the crème leather futon and buried my head in my hands.

A light knock on my door made me jump. I got up to answer it before I noticed that bedroom door was not the door that was being knocked on. The knocking was coming from a door that at first glance seemed to be a window, and as I pushed away the long, navy curtain I noticed it was someone with short cropped hair. _Leah_, I thought, and I shuddered, closing the curtain at once. The knocking quieted to a tapping, and I raised an eyebrow before unlocking the mystery door. A petite girl with skin too pale and a frame too thin to be Leah tumbled into my room, her giggling filling the quiet space. She snorted, "I might've been a ghost – or worse, Leah – with the face you put on when you saw me." The girl took a deep breath, a grin breaking out on her delicate features to replace her laugh. "But relax, I'm only Alice."

She sat down on the futon, patting the space beside her. Alice glanced at me fleetingly before focusing on the room, a disgusted expression on her face. "Edward has no taste. Why do you think I put myself in charge of decorating the cottage? Ugh, this is…I have no words for this mess." She jumped up quickly, dashing around the room to sneer at elements left by the room's previous owner. "Who considers an old album cover artwork?" Alice glanced at me, her face bewildered, and smiled incredulously before nodding in agreement. Alice seemed like a friend – I didn't want to get on her bad side. "I promise you that I'll redecorate. And I really do apologize – Leah is a nasty person, but she normally never wishes death on anyone – even someone who did nearly collapse our social structure-"

"Are you trying to make me feel better?" I chuckled, and Alice giggled along with me. She danced back to sit next to me, patting my back. "I don't know exactly what I did to make her mad, but she's right – if I hadn't lived today then Seth would just be a normal, sixteen-year-old boy without some stuffy vampire imprint."

Alice clucked her tongue and slapped me on the back, momentarily knocking the wind out of me. "Don't talk like that. Nobody deserves to die, darling. And if you hadn't shown up today, he would be a moody, unhappy boy for the rest of his life." Alice's calm, golden eyes settled on mine. "You did him a favor, Ophelia."

I looked away, focusing on the same album hanging on the wall that Alice had called out. "But how am I supposed to carry the line? I think that's what Leah said. Vampires and babies don't match."

A knocking from my bedroom door alerted us, and Alice jumped up, yet the door opened. A boy I had never met before entered. He looked similarly to Seth, yet his hair was buzzed. He was taller and more muscular, too, and he waved to Alice. The tension in our tiny group grew thick, and Alice nodded curtly before disappearing through my doorway as the boy entered. He smiled apologetically, walking to sit next to me on the futon. "I wanted to apologize for Addie back there – she can be a bit of a bubblehead."

I chuckled, a smile finding its way to my face. "It's alright. This is all just very confusing. I mean I haven't even known Seth for a day, and-"

"I know what you mean. Addie didn't really take it all that well when I first told her she was my imprint. It's a confusing prospect. But you and Addie are somewhat alike – we've both imprinted on girls that are very useless on continuing the line." He ran his hand through his hair before offering it to me to shake. "I'm Embry, by the way."

I shook his hand earnestly, and even though normally my grip would've been superior to a human's, his was equally matched. "It is rather peculiar that Seth imprinted on a vampire, isn't it?"

Embry chuckled, running his hand through his hair once more, flattening it. "Not really, honestly. Seth was the only one in any pack that could tolerate vampires, even before Jacob imprinted on Nessie and we had to spend every day here." He sighed, smiling tightly, "What's really confusing is why. I mean the whole concept behind imprinting is to carry the line – and let's face it, you aren't exactly a fertile myrtle anymore."

I smirked at Embry, bowing my head in agreement. "Seth…he's cute, sure. But I can't ever picture myself wanting to carry on a line with him, regardless if I could." My eyes quickly shot down to the floor, and I picked at my fingernails while Embry sighed, clearly uncomfortable. "Is it normal not to exactly _like_ your imprinter like you should?"

I looked up to find Embry biting his lip, a clear look of concentration laced across his features. "I can't tell you if I wanted to. Addie and I – we've been together and happy for maybe three years now. She had to give up a lot to be with me, and I had to do a lot to be with her. But we're happy. And honestly, that's all that matters." He paused, making eye contact and grinning brilliantly at me. "_Normal _imprint couples get along just fine, but then again, you two aren't exactly normal, are you?"

I was about to counter with a witty response when a howl broke the serene silence of the forest outside my window. Embry jumped up with the sudden call, and he saluted me casually before opening my hidden door to jump out into the night.

* * *

The midnight hours ticked by slowly. Nobody came looking for me, and I didn't leave the solace of isolation for the remaining of the evening. I browsed through Edward's extensive CD collection and settled on one by an artist I had seen in my humanity – Colin Meloy. His soothing guitar riffs instantly filled the room, and I sat pondering my new imprintee status until the sunlight peeked quietly through the gaps in the velvet curtains. I stretched my stale limbs and yawned, even though the useless act was just a leftover habit from my days as a human.

Suddenly my door rattled on its hinges, dust flying from the wall. I jumped, running to open it. Alice ran past me, glowering. "Care to explain, Feely?" She reached onto her tiptoes and grabbed a curtain roughly, throwing it aside.

_GO BACK TO NEW YORK BABY KILLER _was thrown across the windowpane in scarlet paint. I felt my blood run cold, and I glanced at Alice, who had an eyebrow cocked towards me, an evil smirk across her face. Standing in the doorway was Bella, who bit her lip feebly. She returned my anxious gaze with one of confusion. Alice cleared her throat, and I flew around again to face her. "Well?" she asked, her eyebrows arched with waiting anticipation.

"I can explain."

"Well do so, and quickly." Alice circled me as if looking at her prey. "We do not hunt _humans_, and Carlisle assured us you didn't either. Baby killer? Interesting."

I bit my lip, meeting Alice's intense ebony gaze. "I was framed," I breathed, earning a scowl from Alice. She cocked an eyebrow, willing me to continue. "My – my mate? No, well he once told me I was his mate, but he has moved on...Anyway, he changed another human, and when I refused him, they framed me. My coven leader did not allow the killing of children, and they killed one and made it appear that I had done it." I glanced away from Alice, sighing. She continued to circle.

"The wolves somehow found out about you too. They left this on our doorstep and papered this window with your story." Alice tossed a newspaper from New York onto my lap. It had been turned to an inside article, and a beautiful child with platinum blonde hair smiled up at me. My own portrait – how the paper had got it, I will never know – glared at the reader from the corner of the page. I was wanted for several thousand dollars by the family, and for another thousand by an unknown entity. Oh Louis.

Alice leaped across my bedroom to open another window. Thousands of copies of my article were taped face down onto the surface. The child was smiling at me from tons of angles, and my portrait glared at me, my eyes dark. I sighed, and Alice turned, smiling ever so slightly at me. "How do you explain-"

"I believe her Alice." Bella's hand rested calmly on my shoulder. "She has golden eyes and we would've smelled blood on her. They might have her as a suspect, but I don't think that she would do it."

Alice paused, sighing deeply. She gave me a hard look of skepticism and nodded, unlocking my window-door. "Then we better start taking these damn articles off."

* * *

I will be updating soon, I assure you!


End file.
